Throughout our province Education Ministries, the students, teachers, staff, volunteers and friars are celebrating the end of the 2020/2021 School Year. It was not an easy year for our world. Our students, from PreK – Graduate School, had to learn to adapt and still thrive in a pandemic world. Although the struggles were very real, these young people grew personally, academically, and spiritually. We are grateful to have hopefully been able to be a source of strength for the school communities we serve.
Friar Pedro, friar Joseph and Friar Marek were joined by the St. Peter School Principal and the PreK teachers in a candid shot with the students.
June 2, 2021: To end the year with a joy filled and very Franciscan celebration, our friars of the St. Peter Friary (Pt. Pleasant Beach, NJ) were visited by the PreK students, teachers & principal of St. Peter School, to help with “Planting Day” in the friary garden. The students stayed and celebrated with yard games and treats for a well deserved job well done. The Point Pleasant Beach Police Department, which is very active in the local community and are often present on campus, helping with student activities and special projects, participated too. Fr. Pedro de Oliveira, OFM Conv., Fr. Marek Stybor, OFM Conv., Fr. Richard Rossell, OFM Conv., Fr. Brennan-Joseph Farleo, OFM Conv., and student friar Joseph Krondon, OFM Conv. enjoyed their participation in the planting and the fun.
Friar Richard, Friar Brennan-Joseph, and the local visiting police officers joined friar Joseph and Friar Marek for another shot with the students before the planting begins
Friar Marek works with the school principal and one of the officers to help a group of students plant in a side box, while the Friary Guardian, Friar Brennan-Joseph, oversees the whole project.
Friar Pedro joins in the fun with a game of cornhole against the officers, while the kids cheered for him!
Kicking on his summer break from classes at The Catholic University of America, friar Joseph started his summer assignment with his confreres of the St. Peter Friary with some planting instruction.
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The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In thanksgiving for the perseverance and successes acquired during this past academic year, we pray:
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Praise to the Sacred Heart
Lord, you deserve all honor and praise,
because your love is perfect and your heart sublime.
My heart is filled to overflowing with gratitude
for the many blessings and graces you have bestowed upon me and those
whom I love.
Forever undeserving, may I always be attentive
and never take for granted the gifts of mercy and love
that flow so freely and generously from your Sacred Heart.
Heart of Jesus, I adore you.
Heart of Jesus, I praise you.
Heart of Jesus, I thank you.
Heart of Jesus, I love you forever and always.
Amen.
June 1, 2021: Our Lady of the Angels Province friar Fabian Adderley, OFM Conv. renewed his Simple Vows in the Chapel of the San Damiano Friary – House of Formation (San Antonio, TX), where he has been in residence as a student friar, since 2018. The vow renewal took place at the hands of his Friary Guardian, Post Novitiate Director and Our Lady of the Angels Province friar ~ Fr. Gary Johnson, OFM Conv. His Simple Vows are now renewed for 14 months. The friary is one of several Houses of Formation in the USA, and is of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation. As such, two friars of that province, Friar Richard Kaley, OFM Conv. & Friar Tim Unser, OFM Conv., served as friar Fabian’s witnesses. Friar Fabian first professed his Simple (Temporary) Vows on July 16, 2018. Simple Profession is for a term of three years, so friars often have to renew their vows, during their Post Novitiate stage of formation. During this time they are continuing their studies and moving into their Fraternal Apostolic Year of formation prior to their Solemn Profession of the Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. This stage usually, but not always, takes more than initial three years. Soon, friar Fabian will being his own Fraternal Apostolic Year of formation, with our friars in Toronto, Ontario.
Please keep him, and his formation journey, in your continued prayers.
May 2021 Newsletter
May is probably one of the busier months on the farm with all the planting we have to do. Beds of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, winter squash, zucchini, okra, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and more were planted this month. Many of these warm-season crops are covered to provide additional warmth and help them through cooler nights.
Presented by Franciscan Voice, “Behind the Quill” is a series of living history stylized conversations with the authors of the Synoptic Gospels.
The 1st in the series was a 30 minute interview with ST. MARK, the 1st Evangelist, as he stoped by to talk about his Gospel, with our own Friar Tim.
This 2nd presentation, “Lunch with Luke” delves into what we know about St. Luke and how he came to know so much about Jesus and the early Church?
May 31, 2021: Our Lady of the Angels Province Vicar Provincial, Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv.(2nd row, 3rd from right – photo from The Catholic Review) concelebrated at the Mass on the Feast of the Visitation, in celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the dedication of Baltimore’s National Shrine of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mass concluded with the dedication and opening of the Pope Saint John Paul II Eucharistic Adoration Chapel for perpetual adoration, in the undercroft of the Basilica.
May 27-19, 2021: The Very Revered Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (center), Minister Provincial of our province, traveled to the InterProvince Novitiate (Arroyo Grande, CA) to visit with the Novices and Formators, and to present classes on the Blessed Virgin Mary and on Franciscan & Celtic Spirituality. It was a great time of fraternity, telling stories and sharing many laughs, for which the Novitiate community of friars is grateful. Friar James’ visit also coincided with the 56th anniversary of priesthood ordination, for our own Fr. Julian Zambanini, OFM Conv. (center left), who serves on the Formation Team as a friar in residence. Ad multos annos, frater Iulianus!
Memorial Day in the USA, a Federal Holiday celebrated the last Monday of May each year, honors American Military Personnel lost while fighting in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For our Canadian friars, the day – known as Canada Day – is held on July 1st. They celebrate Remembrance Day on November 1th.
June 2014: Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. visited the Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach (Cimetiere Americain de Normandy), where the graves of 9,387 soldiers, a chapel, memorials and garden can be visited to honor the courage, skill and ultimate sacrifice made by those who are laid to rest there.
While our friars hold in prayer all those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, of laying down their lives in times of war, we remember especially our own Paratroopers’ Chaplain, +Capt. Father Ignatius Maternowski, OFM Conv. +Friar Ignatius was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1912. He joined the Franciscan Friars Conventual and was ordained a priest, in 1938. He and several of his confreres enlisted as chaplains in the US Army, in 1942, and +Fr. Ignatius volunteered for the Parachute regiment. Deployed to Ireland and England, he celebrated one last Mass for his troops on June 5, 1944; the Eve of D-Day, giving them General Absolution, in anticipation of the peril awaiting them all the next day. He died on June 6, 1944 attempting to negotiate with the Nazi occupiers of Gueutteville-les-Grès (a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France) to establish a “safe-zone” where a common hospital could be used for all of the American, German, and French casualties. +Friar Ignatius was the only United States military chaplain to die on D-Day.
Memorial in Gueutteville commemorating the charity and heroism of +Friar Ignatius
Although Memorial Day is traditionally observed in honor of those who have died in times of war, faith communities often hold special Memorial Services and Masses around this same time, to honor all men and women who are serving or who have served in the US Military. Our province would like to take this opportunity to remember our friars who have served in the Military, and have been welcomed by Sister Death in the past couple of years:
Saturday, May 22, 2021: Our Little Portion Farm ministry, in Ellicott City, MD, celebrated a “Sowing and Blessing the Wildflowers.” This is an important part of an ecological balancing strategy to attract predatory insects to our farm to help control the pests that damage the crops. Farmer Matt Jones (above right – JPIC Assistant Director & Farm Outreach Coordinator), the friars, staff members from the varied ministries on site, and an extensive array of volunteers have planted a diversity of flowering plants to help attract these helpful creatures, in keeping with our avoidance of all pesticides. During the May 22nd event, guests of all ages were invited to help scatter seeds for the new wildflower section and participate in a brief prayer service. These wildflower sections provide habitat for pollinators and beneficial insects, but also create spaces where visitors can contemplate the beauty of creation. Province JPIC Commission Chairman and Farm Director ~ Fr. Michael Lasky, OFM Conv. (below left) presided over the service. After the blessing, visitors were welcomed to walk around the farm and learn more about our unique ministry, in rural Howard County, Maryland, on the grounds of The Shrine of St. Anthony; home to our Provincial House, the Carrollton Hall Historic Site, the Companions of St. Anthony, the Province Franciscan Mission Association Office, and the Franciscan Soy Candles ministry! Note from Farmer Matt: “One of St. Francis’ early biographers wrote that St. Francis believed that gardens should always have a part set aside to be “undug.” According to this biographer, St. Francis thought that seeing this wild beauty would lead people to praise the Creator. So the wildflower areas on the farm are an interpretation of this concept, in addition to being places of ecological benefit.”
Wildflower Sowing & Blessing – May 22, 2021
Opening Prayer:
Creator God, we ask you now to be with us in this place. We recognize you as the Giver and Sustainer of life—in the seed, in the soil, and in the sower. We thank you for the opportunity to take part as a co-creator in this garden, planting seeds that—with your continued sustenance—will flourish with life. We pray that we will never lack in wonder or gratitude for these gifts, and that we are always rooted in a deep place of humility.
Blessings: Sister Seed We invite you now to take a cup of seeds to scatter on the ground. Take care to scatter the seeds slowly and carefully, so that together we may cover the entire area evenly. Become aware of the wondrous reality that each tiny seed has the potential within to become a living plant. We pray that these seeds may burst forth in abundant growth to become healthy plants; that these plants may provide sustenance for many creatures; and that these flowers reflect the beauty of their Creator. ALL: Creator God, hear our prayer.
Brother Soil We invite you to walk on the seeds, pressing them into the soil. Touch the soil with your hands. Become aware of this particular soil, unique to this place, yet, at the same time, a part of our vast, interconnected planet Earth. We pray that this soil be a suitable home for a diversity of life, whether visible or invisible to us. May its nutrients nourish the wildflowers and may it provide a strong foundation for their roots. ALL: Creator God, hear our prayer.
Sister Water We invite you to take a cup of water. Touch the water and flick it onto the newly planted seeds. Become aware of the journey these particular drops of water may have taken to arrive here on this land. We pray that this water may break open these seeds and that this ground may be blessed with lifegiving rains. ALL: Creator God, hear our prayer.
Brother Sun We now invite you to feel the warmth of the sun’s rays on your skin. Become aware of the sun, whose heat makes our world inhabitable and whose light illuminates its beauty. We pray that the sun’s rays reach these wildflower seeds who need its light to sprout. May sunlight shine on these plants to help them grow and reflect their beauty to us. ALL: Creator God, hear our prayer.
Closing Prayer: Creator God, we thank you for the opportunity today to be gardeners tending a small corner of your magnificent creation. Sister Seed, Brother Soil, Sister Water, and Brother Sun – bless these companions of creation. Open our eyes that we may see how intimately we are connected to them; help us understand how deeply we depend on their gifts. Please guide our work on this farm. Give strength to our volunteers, sustain the plants we grow, and help us to provide an abundant harvest of nourishing food to the most vulnerable among us. Amen
This year’s Class of Novices will complete their “year and a day” at the Novitiate this July 2021. They are grateful to Friar Tim, for his great ministry to our Order and for spending some quality time with them, at the Novitiate. Keep them in prayer as they Profess their Simple (Temporary/First) Vows this summer. Pictured above from left to right with Friar Tim at center: friar Wayne Mulei, OFM Conv. (St. Joseph of Cupertino Province), friar Bram De Backer, OFM Conv., friar Jonathan García Zenteno, OFM Conv., friar Michael Boes, OFM Conv., friar Edgar Varela, OFM Conv. (Our Lady of the Angels Province), and friar Anthony Ruffolo, OFM Conv. (St. Bonaventure Province).
The friary is one of several Houses of Formation in the USA, and is of the 
